Irmina, St.
IRMINA, ST.
Benedictine abbess; d. Dec. 24, 710. Irmina's biography, written by thiofrid of echternach 400 years after her death is today recognized as unreliable. He depicts her as the daughter of Dagobert I and affianced to a Count Herman, who was killed before their wedding day. Irmina is believed to be the foundress of the monastery of Öhren (ad Horreum ) at trier, which she ruled as abbess in the last years of her life. A great benefactress of Irish and English monks, Irmina donated to willi brord and his monks the land for their monastery at ech ternach. Despite Thiofrid's account, she may have been the mother of St. adela. Irmina was adopted as the patroness of the Diocese of Trier in the 14th century.
Feast: Dec. 30.
Bibliography: a. poncelet, "De fontibus vitae sanctae Irminae," Analecta Bollandiana 8 (1889) 285–286. m. werner, Adelsfamilien im Umkreis der frühen Karolinger: die Verwandtschaft Irminas von Oeren und Adelas von Pfalzel (Sigmaringen 1982). a.m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 3: 450–452. a. hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, 5 v. (9th ed. Berlin-Leipzig 1958) 1:280, n. 1. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheueux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes (Paris 1935–56) 12:638–639.
[l. meagher]